Artist Nanda Vigo, a friend of Gualtiero Marchesi's, tells us what it was like to be an artist back in those days, and how Marchesi was involved.

From Puglia, a description of olive picking the modern way, and some of the rules agricultural business are required to follow, in order to obtain top quality extra virgin olive oil.

From the heart of Tuscany, famous for its olive oil, Tuscans Lisetta and Alessio talk about how olive oil is made.

One thing that was special about Marchesi's cuisine was that rather than looking abroad for exotic ingredients, his dishes were works of art made with local, ordinary materials.

Marchesi's friends provide details about their long-term relationships with the celebrated chef.

Marchesi had plenty of artist friends, and that meant late nights, while having a restaurant meant getting up at the crack of dawn to go to the market. How did he do it?

Marchesi talks about how important his travels in Europe and in Asia had been in enriching his menu, and confirming the path he was following.

We've finally reached the last part of this recipe. Now you can make this dish yourself. Don't forget to pre-heat the oven to two hundred and twenty or two hundred and forty degrees (428-464°F). If you happen to have any leftover afterwards, you can safely freeze it. Buon appetito!

It's time to check the eggplant in the oven. And what about the slices that were a bit too sottili (thin)? Will they have burned? Note that English mostly uses eggplant as a collective noun (in the singular) but Italian, unless referring specifically to a single eggplant, uses the plural le melanzane when referring to eggplant in general, and to the slices themselves.

Marika prepares the eggplant slices by baking them in the oven—a much lighter way of preparing the eggplant layers than the traditional frying method.

Giovanni Ballarini talks about what the kitchens of Italian restaurants were like in the fifties and sixties. To make sense of how he describes them, see Yabla lesson Parole Alterate - Modifying Words to Create New Ones, as well as video lesson Marika spiega: Parole alterate. Gianni Mura talks about some of the trends found on restaurant menus today.

Marchesi's friends and clients talk about Milan in the 1980s and how the fashion business helped it become such a cosmopolitan city. Reference is made to Florence's "Sala Bianca," [White Hall] in the Pitti Palace, where fashion shows took place before Milan became synonymous with high fashion.

Melanzane alla Parmigiana, or La parmigiana di melanzane (Eggplant Parmesan) is a classic recipe from the Campania region. Marika shows us how to make it, one step at a time.

Gualtiero Marchesi, together with his friend Medagliani, figured out how to invent new kinds of pots and pans to make the most of his new recipes.

Gualtiero Marchesi's restaurant was more akin to an art exhibit, than a place where you can get something to eat.

Gualtiero Marchesi tells us a bit about when he discovered "haute cuisine" in a famous hotel school in Switzerland.

Gualtiero Marchesi has been described as growing up in a pot. While training under the eye of his mother, he began to specialize in tavola calda e fredda (hot and cold food service) which, usually connected with a bar, offers quality ready-to-eat dishes. La Cucina Italiana (Italian Cooking) is a periodical that's been on newsstands since 1929. Paola Ricas, who was an editor there, shares a special moment in its history.

Although Marchesi earned his first Michelin star quite early in the game, he never lost his enthusiasm for creating new dishes, for experimenting.

Our chef tells how his passion for cooking was born, and what books he used as examples.

Gualtiero Marchesi talks about the hotel/restaurant his parents opened in Milan. He describes what it was like back in the Fifties.

Marchesi completely upsets the traditional concepts of cooking, and many think he's just too weird in his combinations and cooking times.

We open a new chapter in L’arte della cucina (the Art of Cooking). Here the focus is on Milan, and the fruit and vegetable market where it all starts.

Gualtiero put some very fancy lamps in his new restaurant, but it stayed almost empty for a good while. He didn't give up, nor did he stoop to using the techniques a New York restaurant used when it opened.

Fashion designer Chiara Boni talks about Milan in the seventies. Gualtiero Marchesi talks about combining tradition with innovation in both his art and his kitchen. Gastronomer Eugenio Medagliani talks about how at the beginning, people understood very little about this "nouvelle cuisine."